


Halcyon

by Diadem (pastelstarsandacid)



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Mild Sexual Content, Sleepiness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-16
Updated: 2016-04-16
Packaged: 2018-06-02 15:02:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6570793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pastelstarsandacid/pseuds/Diadem
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Ed can sleep just about anywhere, and Roy doesn't find it adorable at all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Halcyon

**Author's Note:**

> So, um...I haven't been feeling too great lately. What with rl stress and insomnia and all that jazz...I'm just really wrecked tbh. So this...is a pile of crap. But I needed a pick-me-up, so I wrote it, and...yeah. Here's a thing. I hope I don't disappoint too much Q^Q.
> 
> I fully intend to return to the Daemon AU, I haven't abandoned it, I promise ^-^ I just really, really can't face it right now. Please try to understand that.

There are few things worse than doing overtime alone, in Roy's opinion. It's a task he'll do anything to avoid, and one he's not above using any trick in the book to get out of. Yet, somehow, here he is, the only person left in the office, still signing papers with tired, cramping hands, and rubbing ink smudges that blend with the bruises beneath his hollow eyes.

His pen breaks with a _snap_ , and Roy bites back a curse as dark ink pools across white paper, blotting out the words beyond recognition and ruining hours of tedious labour.

"Traitor." he mutters, glowering at the offending object. The pen, of course, does not reply, just sits smugly in his hand, dripping liquid onyx onto his trousers, and Roy sighs tiredly as he tosses it into the wastepaper basket on his way to the bathroom. Like blood crusted beneath his fingernails, ink won't wash off so easily, but it might fade a little, if he scrubs hard enough.

He's just turning the tap and preparing to leave, because he hasn't got a spare pen, and it's really just too much effort to raid Riza's supply drawer without her noticing the next morning, when he hears a heavy, muffled _thump_.

He slowly cracks open the door, eyes narrowing suspiciously as he surveys his surroundings. His office seems intact; nothing is broken or hanging of its hinges. The papers he was signing, now ink-spattered and useless, lie innocently on the desk, undisturbed.

Whatever caused such a commotion must be in the main room, separated from him by the thick hardwood door. Roy reasons it must be something sufficiently heavy, such as a large animal or a person, to have made enough noise that he heard it all the way from his private bathroom. With that thought, he slips on his gloves.

"Assassins in the office." he murmurs, only half-joking. "Now wouldn't _that_ be something."

He turns the handle with a decisive twist, his other arm held out and ready to fire-

There are papers on the desk and littering the floor, some weighed down by Ed's hands, the flesh one of which is trapped under him in a rather uncomfortable-looking position. His hair is loose and spooled around his shoulders; a halo of soft gold strands surrounds his head, which is pillowed by a heavy-looking manuscript entitled _A Brief History of Alchemy_. His mouth is slightly open, and there's a damp patch on the carpet.

 _Lovely_. Roy smirks.

"Fullmetal." he says. Ed makes no sign of having heard him. His grin widens, and he kneels down so he's more or less eye-level with the blonde alchemist, leaning forward so their faces are almost touching. _This is should be interesting_.

"Full-metal." he trills in a sing-song voice. Ed crinkles his nose, snorts, and cracks open a bleary eye.

"Th'fuck's goin'- ah!" he yelps, jerking backwards so fast he falls flat on his back. Roy laughs softly as he manouevres himself into a sitting position, rubbing his spine ruefully. "What the fuck is _wrong_ with you, you crazy bastard?"

"Hello to you, too." Roy replies, still chuckling slightly. Ed scowls, wobbling on unsteady legs as he struggles to stand, attempting to grasp the desk for leverage. His arm flops, numb and useless, and he staggers, flailing madly in a futile attempt to right himself, before falling over once again.

"M'okay." he protests, when Roy moves to help him up. "Fell asleep." he adds, as if he's only just realised.

"You're a sight for sore eyes." Roy observes dryly, even though it isn't entirely true. Yes, Ed is red-eyed, and his hair resembles a bird's nest piled atop his head, but there's something terribly endearing about it all- flushed cheeks and glassy eyes and rumpled clothes so utterly creased that Roy almost gets lost when he attempts to follow the maze of crumpled lines ingrained within his shirt.

Ed opens his mouth, no doubt to deliver what he deems a suitably scathing retort, only to break off into a cavernous yawn, not even bothering to cover his mouth as he exhales. He settles with a sleepy glare instead, but he's so drowsy that he can't even seem to coordinate his facial muscles to his will, and ends up shooting Roy a far less threatening frown.

Roy turns away to hide a smile, unhooking his jacket from its peg and swinging it over his shoulders.

"Come on," he offers "I'll drive you home."

Ed stares at him in blank incomprehension, scrunching his nose adorably as he tries to make sense of this information.

"Alright." he agrees after a moment, rising from where he's slumped in his seat, only to sit down again suddenly, crippled by another jaw-cracking yawn.

This time, Roy doesn't even bother to hide his grin.

***

Ed falls asleep in the car.

He's been growing steadily quieter since having first entered the vehicle, until, when he doesn't respond to Roy's _"So, how are Alphonse and Miss Rockbell?"_ Roy allows himself to steal a glance at the passenger seat and finds him comatose, head nodding slightly where it's pressed against the window. His eyelashes flutter softly as he breathes, dusting ivory with flecks of pale gold, glowing faintly in the dim light.

He's drooling on Roy's leather seats, and Roy doesn't even care.

"Wake up, sleepyhead." he shakes Ed gently to rouse him, suppressing a sudden, ridiculous urge to smooth the hair from his face. "We've stopped."

"Was awake th'whole time." Ed mumbles thickly, without opening his eyes. "Heard everythin' y'said."

"I'm sure you did." Roy says, fighting a losing battle to keep the amusement from his voice. A laugh bubbles up in his chest and threatens to burst from his lips, but he manages to pass it off as a bad cough. "Well, here we are."

"Where's here?" Ed's eyes are still closed. He looks like he's going to fall asleep again. Roy considers letting him.

After a moment, though, Ed groans, rolling his shoulders to work the kinks from his back, before extricating himself from the seatbelt tangled around his waist.

"So, uh...thanks for the ride, I guess." he yawns, scratching the back of his neck sleepily.

"It was no hardship." Roy waves a hand dismissively. "Goodnight, Fullmetal."

"'Night." He strolls leisurely, clumsy feet stumbling in battered leather boots, pausing to lean heavily on the gate. "Drive safe, bastard."

"I will." Roy watches as he totters precariously towards the door. "Give my best wishes to Al."

"Uh-huh." Ed replies, in a voice that sounds a hundred miles away, and Roy almost wishes he'd stepped out of the car after him, then; kissed him senseless before he could even register what was going on; felt that beautiful scowl melt away as he gasped in surprise, perhaps bringing his hands up to wind leisurely through Roy's hair.

He notices then that Ed is staring at him, and shakes his head quickly, wishful thoughts scattering like snowflakes in the wind.

"Is there something on my face, Fullmetal?" he asks, beginning to feel a little uncomfortable when Ed continues to scrutinise him.

Ed tilts his head thoughtfully. "You've got that _look_." he says airily, as if that somehow explains everything.

"What look?" Roy snaps, now simply irritated by his lack of understanding. Of course, only Edward Elric could be so abstract at _two o'clock in the goddamn morning_.

Ed snickers. "Like you're thinkin' something stupid." he snorts, and slams the door behind him before Roy has the chance to reply.

"Yes." he says quietly, and the lie tastes bitter, like ashes, on his tongue. "Yes, I am."

***

Roy quickly learns that Ed can sleep just about anywhere, if he puts his mind to it.

It's a little disconcerting at times, but the entire team swiftly becomes accustomed to Ed's odd sleeping habits. After all, there's only so many times one can be surprised at finding a small, snoring human being curled up in the storage cupboard, using the thick stacks of paperwork as an impromptu mattress. They're all a little wary of waking him at first, lest they invoke the infamous Elric wrath, but it soon becomes apparent that Ed is willing enough to move if you ask politely; he'll just wander off to find a chair or a desk to curl up on elsewhere, or, if no such item of furniture is available, sleep where he stands, leaning against a wall for support.

Entertaining as it may be, though, Ed's tendency to fall asleep while in the office becomes an issue Roy needs to address. He puts it off for as long as he can, but after General Hakuro files a complaint claiming he found Ed asleep in the _bathroom_ (he doesn't specify where, and, to be perfectly honest, Roy doesn't really want to know), it's clear he can no longer avoid it.

He glances over at the unconscious figure slumped across the table, before squaring his shoulders and, with a long-suffering sigh, pinches his arm to bring him round.

"Mrmph." Ed says, or something like it, as he shakes his hair out of his eyes, and Roy is struck with the urge to run his hands through it again.

"Fullmetal." he says, instead, clenching his fists to stop his fingers from twitching. "We need to talk."

Ed blinks slowly in response, an infuriatingly adorable attempt to convince himself he's more alert than he actually is, and huddles deeper into the folds of that ugly red coat, shivering in spite of the stifling summer heat. The collar falls open and Roy glimpses a tantalising hint of pale flesh, barely covered by a shirt that's askew on one side, and buttoned up so entirely wrong, there's a gap across his midriff. 

He's almost impressed when he realises that it's also being worn inside out.

"Are those yesterday's clothes?" he asks. Ed scowls at him, rubbing heavy-lidded eyes, and yanks the collar tightly up to his chin, confirming Roy's suspicions.

"Why the fuck d' _you_ care?" he retorts. Roy sighs irritably, all traces of amusement wiped away, along with his smile.

"My office, Fullmetal." he snaps, before sweeping away in what he hopes is an impressive display of his military power (though if Riza's disdainful expression is anything to go by, only succeeds in making him look utterly ridiculous), and, to his surprise, Ed follows him without protest, stumbling to the couch opposite his desk and sprawling drunkenly across it.

"Fullmetal." Roy begins, steeling himself for the slew of violent objections that will no doubt follow his next statement. "It has been brought to my attention that you are slacking off during work hours."

"Mm-hmm?" Ed mumbles thickly, muffled by the cushion he's buried his face into. Roy's frown deepens.

"Is it really so much to ask that you remain awake for more than a few hours at a stretch?" he says tiredly, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose between forefinger and thumb in an attempt to ward off a burgeoning headache.

"Mm-hm." Ed replies, and Roy realises he's fallen asleep again.

"Fullmetal." he whispers, and he's about to shake him, to wake him up and finish what he started, when he's struck by how utterly _exhausted_ Ed looks- his skin is the colour of unrefined chalk, and there are red, sore-looking marks marring the skin beneath his tightly-shut eyes.

Roy shakes his head slowly, but lowers his hand to his side, cursing his own weakness as he leans down to drape his coat over the prone figure, carefully placing it so as not to disturb Ed's slumber. Ed clutches at the lapels and pulls it more tightly around his huddled form, a picture of bliss as he buries his nose into the heavy folds, and Roy-

Well, Roy would shoot himself in the foot before he ever said it out loud, but quite frankly, it's a little more endearing than he cares to admit.

***

Roy would be lying if he said he hadn't expected it. After all, it would have taken a fool not to notice the way Ed would look at him, slyly glancing in his direction whenever he thought Roy's attention diverted elsewhere, or the pleasant spark of warmth that would flood through his entire being when they accidentally touched; a fleeting brush of hands when Ed handed in his latest batch of paperwork; knees knocking beneath the comically small table when they happened to find themselves sat together at lunch.

So when the tension does finally break, when Ed grasps him by the collar and pulls him down into a searing kiss, ferocious and passionate and full of promises; when he shows up on Roy's doorstep later that evening and practically _drags_ him up the stairs, kicking the door almost off its hinges before _laughing_ his pretty blonde head off as Roy presses him into the mattress, Roy can honestly say that he really isn't surprised at all.

" _Fuck_." Ed pants, clutching at Roy's shoulders like one in danger of drowning, trembling as he struggles to catch his breath, and Roy hums blithely as he quickens his movements, stroking Ed's sweat-soaked hair and peppering his throat with damp, open-mouthed kisses, relishing the faint, shivery sounds they coax from him, no matter how hard he tries to swallow them down.

"God, you're beautiful." Roy whispers reverently, as he moves to trace silvered scars and shimmering steel, though Ed doesn't appear to much appreciate the sentiment.

"Oh, just get on with it, you fucking _sap_." he hisses, and Roy, because Ed has all but ruined him, laughs as he hastens to oblige.

" _Holyfuckingshit_ -" Ed's eyes widen in a hilarious combination of surprise and outrage and he gasps faintly, tipping his head back as he comes, before collapsing on Roy's chest, shuddering slightly.

"Bastard." he huffs, when he finally regains the ability of speech, and Roy laughs again; gathers him in his arms and kisses him messily until he passes out, exhausted by their combined efforts.

Ed is pretty much catatonic when he's asleep; he doesn't so much as twitch when Roy accidentally knees him in the stomach, just mutters something unintelligible into Roy's neck and carries on snoring quietly, dead to the world. His whole outline appears to soften in his repose; sharp edges smooth and blend together, and he seems almost _iridescent_ , gleaming pale silver and molten gold. It turns him into something precious, so dazzling it almost hurts to look at him directly, and yet Roy can't quite tear his eyes away.

As he looks down at the younger man curled in his arms, still not entirely convinced that this isn't all just some fantastical dream, conjured up in a flight of foolish fancy by his own horribly sleep-deprived mind, Ed rolls over in his sleep, and his automail arm swings to crack Roy across the face.

"Shit!" Ed yells, jolted into wakefulness as Roy lets out an agonised yelp, clapping a hand to his face in an attempt to stem the flow of blood dripping from his nose and onto his (freshly washed, _goddamnit_ ) sheets. "Fuck, Roy- are you okay?"

" _No._ " Roy grumbles thickly, wincing as a throb of pain lances through his skull. A thin stream of blood trickles through the space between his fingers, spattering the mattress with more red. "I think you broke my nose."

"Don't be so fucking dramatic." Ed scoffs, but he quickly changes his tune when he turns Roy's head to face him, eyes widening in horror as he forces him to lower his hands. "Oh, _holy shit_." he breathes. "It's actually broken."

He's up within seconds, not quite fully alert as he pulls his shirt on back-to-front, and tugs on Roy's arm insistently to indicate he do the same.

"Come _on_." he says hurriedly, balling up Roy's clothes and tossing them unceremoniously in his general direction. "We've gotta get you to hospital."

The medication they give him takes the edge off the pain, but it also has a powerful soporific effect, and it's all he can do to stumble back to the car in a straight line. He curls up miserably in the passenger seat while Ed, refreshed by the nap he took on Roy's shoulder while they were waiting, snorts contemptuously at the pitiful sight.

"It's _not_ funny." Roy protests weakly. "I can't breathe through my nose."

Ed, as if to prove he's even more of a little shit than Roy previously realised, snickers under his breath in response, smirking in obvious amusement as he turns the key in the ignition. He claims he knows how to drive, and Roy really hopes he's telling the truth; he's in no fit state to do so himself.

"You'd better not fall asleep." Roy warns, as the drugs start to pull him under.

"I won't." Ed replies, sounding far too confident to be reassuring as he starts the engine. "Probably."

Roy can only pray he's joking.

***

Roy has shared his bed with many a partner over the years, but he's fairly certain that not one of these encounters was quite so bizarrely wonderful as the experience of waking up with Ed.

If Ed is conscious at all when Roy stirs beside him, he'll never speak, only groan as he mashes his face with unnecessary force into a pillow or Roy's shoulder, stubbornly refusing to acknowledge the reality of being awake, as if he can will it into nonexistence simply by feigning ignorance. Roy will smile in response, before slipping from beneath the covers to open the curtains, pressing his lips tightly together and choking back a snort of laughter when Ed shrieks indignantly, snatching Roy's pillow and burying his head beneath it.

 _"Good morning, beautiful."_ Roy will say, leaning down to kiss him, humming cheerfully as he inhales oil and metal and sunlight, a warm and welcome contrast to the chill that permeates the air.

Ed, of course, will scowl in reply, cursing Roy's name under his breath as he resurfaces from beneath his cushioned refuge, but his lips will curve into an involuntary grin, and he'll lean over to cup Roy's jaw in his hand, pressing a clumsy kiss of his own to his cheek.

 _"We really should get up, you know."_ Roy will sigh, running an absentminded hand through Ed's tangled curls, but Ed will simply toss his head in defiance and settle back beside him, aurelian and lackadaisical, so all-encompassing he's beyond mere words, and Roy will always find himself unable to leave.

Ed groans sleepily, and stirs in Roy's arms, jolting him from his reverie. Not that he particularly minds.

"Y're thinkin' stupid shit again." he mumbles, extending a metal finger to poke Roy's shoulder reproachfully, and Roy's face hurts from smiling already.

"Not at all, my love." he says, reaching to tuck a strand of Ed's hair behind his ear. "Not at all."

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and feedback are always appreciated!
> 
> And yes, I stole the "person A rolls over in their sleep and smacks person B in the face" thing from a tumblr prompt. I'm creative like that.
> 
> EDIT: You fabulous people who kudos'd and left lovely comments, you are all stars and ily very much. You really helped me out a lot (seriously, I wasn't in very happy places when I wrote/posted this) and I just want to...say thanks. Yep. *sniffs nervously* I don't deserve you precious sweethearts *hugs y'all* but I'm pretty damn grateful to have you around.


End file.
